Is Whitehaven Beach worth visiting? Did Whitehaven Beach live up to expectations? Is Whitehaven Beach overrated? Read on to find out what we thought.

6 minute read

How do I get to the Whitsundays
Best hotels at the Whitsundays
How to get to Whitehaven Beach
Whitehaven beach tours
Things to do at Whitehaven Beach

Australia’s award-winning Whitehaven Beach in Queensland has repeatedly been named ‘Australia’s Best Beach’ for many years. TripAdvisor recently ranked it the world’s third best beach. We’ve seen this beach on postcards, calendars, posters, billboards – you name it. Promoted as a pristine, white-sand, blue-watered idyllic paradise, we got the chance to investigate these claims once and for all.

Whitehaven Beach is located on Whitsunday Island, the largest of a group of islands called the Whitsunday Islands (or the ‘Whitsundays’). There are 74 islands, but only a few of them can be visited. These include Daydream Island, Hamilton Island and Hook Island. The rest are privately owned by wealthy moguls. Some of these islands are actually up for sale, so feel free to place an offer and let us know how it goes!

For quite some time, the Whitsundays has been marketed as a luxury getaway destination to upper middle class Australians. This reputation has been well earned, as some of the most opulent resorts in the country can be found on Hamilton Island and Hayman Island.

More recently, there’s also been an increased interest in destinations on the mainland, close to the Whitsunday Islands. This broader area has been called the ‘Whitsunday Region’.

How do I get to the Whitsundays?

The first thing you’ll need to do is to get to either Airlie Beach or Hamilton Island.

These destinations can be reached by plane: Tigerair, Virgin Australia and Jetstar fly to Proserpine Airport (Airlie Beach) while Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Qantas fly to Great Barrier Reef Airport (Hamilton Island). You would usually fly in from Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, with Sydney having the most flight times per day.

Both flight options are relatively affordable, but flying to Airlie Beach is usually cheaper and much lighter on the budget in the long run. This is because Hamilton Island is more of an expensive resort destination for couples and families, while Airlie Beach has a range of budget accommodations, bars and things to do outside of the usual island-hopping tours.

We would recommend basing yourself in Hamilton Island if you’re looking for a romantic trip or a relaxing family holiday, and if you feel comfortable enough to spend a little bit more on premium accommodation.

If you’re relatively young and want to be close to amenities and convenience stores, stay in Airlie Beach. Staying in Airlie Beach also allows you to rent a car and explore the surrounding area. This is the option we went with on our trip, and it proved to be really convenient.

Flight prices and times can very from day to day, so make sure to check Skyscanner for the cheapest deals.

You can also choose to drive to Airlie Beach from neighbouring towns and cities such as Townsville, Cairns, Bowen etc. but obviously, you’d need to rent a car and set aside some time for the drive.

Where to stay in the Whitsundays

The Whitsundays are full of great accommodation options. Here’s our list of the best places to stay in the Whitsundays.

Budget: Airlie Beach Magnums

Airlie Beach Magnums is a great backpackers option if you’re looking to save on budget. Featuring private bunk rooms with shared bathrooms, the property is located right in the heart of town and serves as a convenient base if you’re looking to go visit Whitehaven Beach.

You can take a closer look at Airlie Beach Magnums by clicking here.

Mid-Range: Mango House Resort

The Mango House Resort is perfect for families who want a budget-friendly stay in Airlie Beach. Featuring a swimming pool and balcony area, your stay in Airlie Beach is sure to be a comfortable one by staying here.

You can take a closer look at Mango House Resort by clicking here.

Luxury: Beach Club

Beach Club is located on the luxury resort island of Hamilton Island, and is the ultimate in Whitsundays luxury!

You can take a closer look at Beach Club by clicking here.

Getting to Whitehaven Beach

One important thing to note is that that while traveling to the Whitsundays can be done affordably, visiting Whitehaven Beach and the neighbouring Hill Inlet can also be really expensive, depending on your mode of transport.

By helicopter or Seaplane

Air Whitsundays can take you over to Whitehaven Beach by helicopter or Seaplane, starting at $295 per person.

Day tour by boat or catamaran

Many tour companies offer day trips by boat or catamaran to Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach. Here are some options you might consider.

· Cruise Whitsundays at $220 per person.

· Ocean Rafting at $155 per person. Note that this a tour on a small raft.

· Whitehaven Xpress at $185 per person. This is the company we used for our tour.

· Red Cat at $179 per person.

Sailing tours

You can sail through the Whitsundays over the course of a few days, with Whitehaven being one of your stops.

· ISail Whitsundays

· Whitsundays Sailing Adventures

A typical day tour will consist of a snorkeling spot or glass bottom boat, a visit to Hill Inlet and lunch at Whitehaven Beach.

Snorkeling or Glass bottom boat

We didn’t actually bring any snorkeling gear with us because we forgot that the tour included a snorkeling spot. Whitehaven Xpress gave us the option of renting equipment, but we just went with the glass bottom boat instead.

The snorkeling here is supposed to be really good. The Whitsunday Region is only a short distance away from the Great Barrier Reef, and so the area is rich with colourful corals and a wide variety of fish.

While we were in the glass bottom boat, we couldn’t help but feel that the corals and underwater life in general did not live up to expectations. The corals were a dull white-ish colour and there weren’t that many fish. Our tour guide told us that due to the recent devastating effects of Cyclone Debbie in 2017, major damage was caused to the area which caused coral bleaching.

Things to do at Whitehaven Beach

Hill Inlet

Hill Inlet was absolutely stunning, and one of the best destinations we have ever visited. It was ranked second in our list of Top 10 Destinations of 2017 and we completely stand by this ranking.

Once you get off the boat, your guide will take you on a 10-minute walk to a lookout called Tongue Point, where you will see the majestic Hill Inlet. Hill Inlet is located in the northern part of Whitehaven Beach and is a part of most day tours, but not all tours visit Hill Inlet, so be sure to check our tour itinerary.

On a bright sunny day, Hill Inlet looks like a series of blue and white ice cream swirls against a green, mountainous backdrop. We think it looks like a shining, blue cinnamon roll. It’s best to visit during low tide, where the contrast between the white sand and blue water is even more striking.

Hill Inlet is honestly a must-see for any visit to the Whitsundays, so please - for your own good - add it to your bucket list.

Whitehaven Beach

Whitehaven Beach stretches 7km along the coastline and claims to have the some of the whitest sands in the world. The sand here is 98% pure silica, which gives it a bright white colour.

The white sands don’t retain heat, so visitors can still comfortably walk on the sand even on a blistering hot day. Be warned though, the sand is so fine that it can easily damage electronic equipment such as mobiles and cameras by slipping through between the cracks.

Final Verdict: Is Whitehaven Beach worth visiting?

Yes and no.

While the beach was very picturesque with amazing, smooth white sands and blue waters, it was also very busy. Other blogs have mentioned that the beach is relatively quiet compared to its famed reputation.

However, we didn’t find this to be true. Unfortunately, it was so hard to even get a clear picture of the beach without a boat obstructing the view. There were a lot of people on the beach, but it seemed like there were even more boats! With each passing minute, a new boat pulled up and more and more passengers unloaded onto the beach.

It appeared that Whitehaven Beach had become a victim of its own success - and tourists like myself were part of the problem. The explosion of Instagram and social media has no doubt played a part in all this, and will only continue to make things worse in the future.

We understand this is quite an unpopular opinion, so maybe we happened to visit on an abnormally busy day. Our tour was completely full, and it looked like other tours were as well.

One of the things we wished we could have done was walk further away from the main cluster of activity to experience a more secluded area of Whitehaven Beach. Unfortunately, we couldn’t really do this because we were only given 1.5 hours to have lunch and explore the beach. This isn’t really a lot of time considering the beach stretches for 7km.

While pretty, the sandy party of the beach is actually quite short in width, meaning that people are clumped together and there really isn’t a lot of space to yourself. Again, the only way to avoid this problem is to walk further away, but this is difficult under time constraints.

Still, the beach really is beautiful and worth a visit. If anything, the Whitsundays are a must-visit destination based on Hill Inlet alone.

Is there anything else to do apart from seeing Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet?

Absolutely. There are so many things to do that you could stay here a week and still not run out of activities. You could go island-hopping, visit waterfalls on the mainland or visit the attractions of nearby towns.

Renting a car

Some of our greatest memories are from renting a car and driving to the little town of Bowen and beach-bumming there. We used Europcar and didn’t have a problem, so we would recommend using them.

Australia

The place we call home is also a vast, endless terrain of unique flora and fauna. Australia is more than just kangaroos and koalas - turquoise waters, rugged rocks and breathtaking views make Oceania’s treasure a must-do on any bucket list.

Is Whitehaven Beach Worth Visiting? [2024]